Let Your Vote Be Your Voice
We sit night after night watching the news, reading newspapers and social media and taking issue with what we see and hear about politics. Then we talk to our friends, family and coworkers and share our opinions, often rather passionately. All of that blustering means absolutely nothing if you don’t vote.
They say this presidential election is the most important of our lifetime and I believe that to be true. As the publisher of a Health, Wellness and Environmental magazine, my choice is clear. I will vote for the person who best supports a more sustainable planet, a plan to combat the problems of climate change, and the concept that affordable, quality healthcare is a right and not a privilege. To me, these should be human rights not political fights. The Affordable Care Act may not be perfect and could be improved, but it has afforded health care to millions of Americans who previously had none. It did away with the preexisting condition rule that allowed insurance companies to either deny coverage to those who have been sick or to offer coverage at astronomical rates which most could not afford. We are still waiting for the Republicans to show Americans their viable health care plan promised for almost 10 years now.
I will vote for a person who takes responsibility for their actions. One who tells us the truth and severity of a looming pandemic, that at the time of this writing has taken 200,000 lives, many of which could have been spared with early social precautions and honesty with the American people.
I cannot vote for a person whose members of his family and administration have called him unfit for office. I cannot vote for a person who says he knows more about war than his generals, more about pandemics than his scientists and doctors, and more about the rule of law than our law enforcement institutions.
I will vote for a person who will get us back in the Paris Climate Accord and will work with other countries to combat the ills of climate change, like devastating wild fires and a record-breaking number of hurricanes. I cannot vote for a person who wants to open up federal public lands to more fossil fuel exploration. I will vote for someone who will take us into the future with sustainable energy that will create new green jobs for a strong 21st -century economy.
I will vote for someone who promotes hope and not fear. I will vote for someone who supports the foundation of our country and its institutions, not someone who wants to undermine and weaken a free press, the post office, our election system, our intelligence agencies, and most of our alliances with other countries around the world.
Most of all I will not vote for a person who doesn’t believe that we are all created equal. Many of those closest to this president have gone on record saying he is not the right person for the job. Republican groups are uniting against this president because they know he doesn’t represent the Grand Old Party and the country they love.
I will vote for science over whim, truth over lies, and inclusion over division. I will vote for a person who can bring us back from the precipice, someone with integrity, experience, a conscious and a soul. Someone who can help our nation heal. I will vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. History is asking us to write the next chapter in our democracy. Let your vote be your voice!
R.I.P R.B.G & Thank You!
J.B. Lester